SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Senior guard Caitlyn Sears scored a team-high 23 points and freshman guard Desiree Jackson added 19 points for Southern Utah University who suffered a 65-58 defeat to Oakland University in the quarterfinal round of The Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. Sunday afternoon.

The Thunderbirds end the season with a 16-14 overall record, the most wins by a SUU club since the 2003-04 team won 18. Southern Utah was held to 38 percent shooting by Oakland (19-11), the conference's leading defensive team. The Golden Grizzlies made 14 steals, scored 16 points off of 19 SUU turnovers and held the Thunderbirds leading scorer, senior forward Challis Pascucci to one point and seven rebounds.

"I was really proud of the way we played in the second half. This group showed a lot of heart today, to battle back after a tough first half," commented head coach JR Payne. "The three seniors meant so much to this team and we wouldn't have gotten to this point without them. We accomplished a lot of things this season and will continue to get better."

Southern Utah traded baskets with Oakland for the early minutes as senior point guard Kaila Goff connected on a long three from the left wing and Jackson added a couple nice runners from just inside the paint.

The Golden Grizzlies conference-leading defense went on to force a couple SUU miscues later in the half, taking advantage of 12 Thunderbird turnovers and scoring 12 points. Southern Utah also struggled to get the ball to Pascucci down in the low post but stayed within striking distance as Sears and freshman guard Andrea Jones each knocked down jumpers.

Oakland's10-4 run down the stretch gave them a 32-23 lead at the half. SUU shot 38 percent and owned a 22-14 rebound advantage while Oakland shot 40 percent.

The Golden Grizzlies came out firing in the second half, opening with an 8-2 run, using a pair of three's and a layup to build a 15-point lead just in over a minute into the second period.

Sears quickly answered for the Thunderbirds to spurn a 12-2 SUU run and cut the Oakland lead to five. Sears knocked down a three, sophomore Tayler Anderson hit a free throw before Sears hit a jumper from the top of the key while getting fouled. After making the free throw, she connected on a three from the left corner and Jackson capped the run with a pair of free throws that made it 42-37 Oakland at the 14:06 mark. Minutes later, Jackson caught fire for the Thunderbirds, scoring six straight points to keep the OU lead at five.

Oakland was able to withstand the SUU runs and was able counter the SUU rally by turning in their own 8-0 run that proved to be costly for the Thunderbirds. Led by Sharise Calhoun, the Golden Grizzlies used six straight points from their point guard to open up an 11-point lead, 54-43 at the 8:11 mark.

Sears and Jackson kept knocking shots to keep the young Southern Utah squad in the game, as jumper by Sears from the left baseline and a long three from Jackson in the right corner cut the Oakland lead to six with 4:31 left. Sears then had a three rattle in and out on the next trip down, which would have made it a five-point game but the miss was corralled by Oakland. A minute later, Pascucci hit one of two free throws and Sears  hit a jumper off an inbounds play to again make it a six-point game, 57-51 with 2:34 remaining.

Just as SUU gained the momentum, Oakland came right back with two easy buckets after getting behind the trapping Thunderbird defense. Sears would again hit a three to make it a six-point game with 50 seconds left but the Golden Grizzlies hit their free throws to seal up the win, ending the Thunderbirds season.

Sears finished with a team-high nine rebounds while Jones grabbed five boards and dished out a team-best four assists for Southern Utah. Oakland was a led by Calhoun's 24 points and advances to Monday's semifinal round to face top-seeded Oral Roberts University.

Pascucci finishes her career as SUU's all-time leader in rebounds (929) and games played (119), second in blocks (139), and fourth in points (1,328). Sears ends her career third in games played (115), fifth in points (1,216) and tied for eighth in steals (126). Goff finished third on SUU's career assists list with 423.